


Rain

by flippantninny



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 21:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2165994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flippantninny/pseuds/flippantninny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the one word prompt 'Rain'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rain

Daryl looked up at the sky. It was the middle of the afternoon but it was getting dark already, rain clouds covering the sun and edging closer and closer to them.

"I think I saw a cabin back there," he said, looking over at Beth and motioning towards a trail in the trees, "we should head back there before it starts raining."

Beth frowned back at him. This was meant to be a day trip, hunt some animals, bring back some food, and be home before dark. If they were going to a cabin that meant staying the night.

"Why don’t we just head back to the camp?" she asked.

"Better to get back tomorrow with some food than today with nothing," he said, "c’mon, that rainstorm’s not far off and I don’t fancy sleeping in damp clothes."

Daryl had been right, they were just a few feet from the cabin when heavy raindrops started falling, and it only took a few seconds for it to turn into an all out storm, drops of water loudly hitting the roof. There were a few leaks in the ceiling, water dripping it’s way into the small cabin, but it was better than trying to set up a tent in the rain.

The cabin was basic, consisting of a small bedroom which contained one bed and two night stands, a bathroom Beth doubted still functioned, and a main room with a small kitchenette, a couch, and a fireplace.

Satisfied that the cabin was uninhabited, Daryl started playing with the fire, throwing a couple of logs from the pile beside the couch and fiddling with some matches He knew Beth had a hard time sleeping in the cold, so he figured he’s take the mattress off the bed and set it down by the fire for her, leaving the small couch for him. Beth examined the bathroom. It was basic, containing only a sink, a toilet, and a small shower. She optimistically tried the sink, hoping that by some miracle the water would be working and she could have her first shower in weeks. It wasn’t. The rain continued to attack the cabin, loudly interrupting her thoughts.

That was when the idea hit her. The bathroom was stocked with shampoo and body wash, basic no name brand varieties but better than nothing, and was rain water really that different to what came out of a shower anyway?

"Hey Daryl," Beth said, wandering into the main room, body wash and shampoo in hand, "I’m gonna take a shower."

Daryl looked up at her from the fire he had managed to start but was still carefully tending to, “water on?” he asked.

"No, I was just thinking the rain is better than nothing, I’m covered in walker blood, and at least they have shampoo," she replied.

"No."

Beth’s face fell. So it might not have been a perfect plan, but he didn’t have to completely shut it down. “Why not?” she asked.

"Walkers might be out there," he said simply. He cousn’t stand seeing her disappointed, but it was better than putting her in danger.

"So?" she asked.

"So you’re not going out there alone," he replied.

"So, you can sit on the porch and watch me," she said, not thinking about what she was saying. She wasn’t sure who went redder quicker, but they were both bright shades of scarlet within seconds, "I mean, I’ll keep my underwear on," she quickly corrected, "and you wouldn’t be watching me, just looking out for walkers. Safety, you know?"

Daryl was still silent, his heart thumping at the idea of Beth Greene naked and wet in front of him. He quickly forced the image from his mind. The girl was eighteen, what the hell was he thinking?

"Please, Daryl," Beth begged, her face had returned from red to its usual shade. His had not. "I can’t even remember the last time I had a shower, and I feel disgusting. Please?"

Daryl sighed. Disgusting wasn’t a word he would have ever used to describe her, but if she thought she was that gross, how could he say no.

"Better make it quick," he said, walking out on to the porch and slumping into an old wooden chair, focusing his attention on his crossbow, willing himself not to think about what Beth was about to be doing. He watch for walkers without watching her.

Beth’s face broke into a smile as she followed him onto the porch. Daryl tried to keep his attention on his crossbow. He tried. But his eyes were betraying him, as he lifted his head slightly, gazing at the woman in front of him.

Her back was to him, her shirt already off and folded neatly beside her. Daryl’s gaze made its way down her, from the her slight shoulders to each visible vertebrae, to the dimples on her lower back. He managed to force himself to look away as she pulled her jeans off.

She’s 18, you sick bastard, a voice in his head said, she’s less than half your age, and there’s no way she would be okay showering in front of you if she knew you were having these sick thoughts.

Beth trusted Daryl, and he wished he was worthy of that trust, but his mind was betraying him, daring himself to look up at her, to see what she looked like in nothing but panties and a bra. Daryl managed to keep his gaze averted until he heard a familiar tune and his head shot up. When he looked at where Beth had been standing there was only the neat pile of clothes, Beth was in the rain, hands running through her hair, eyes closed, allowing the rain to wash away the dirt and blood that stained her skin.

And suddenly it was all coming back to him, the thoughts he had been burying since that night in the funeral home. She was singing that song, the one she had played on the piano. Daryl had never heard the original before, and he couldn’t quite make out the words, but he knew that song, the one she has sung to him as he relaxed into the casket. That was the night he had realised his feelings towards Beth weren’t 100% platonic. He didn’t know what exactly they were, but he knew, for the first time in his life, he could imagine his future , and she was in it.He had been planning on telling her too, telling her he would stay at the mortuary with her, would go domestic just to be with her. Then she had disappeared and he had decided to crush those thoughts, because Beth Greene was the greatest woman he had ever met, and he was nobody, and she deserved someone so much better than him.

And now she was standing there, in nothing but her underwear, singing that perfect song, completely oblivious to the way his eyes traced the lines of her body, imagining how it would feel underneath his hands. Underneath him.

He was so consumed by the sight of her in the rain, he almost missed the movement in the edge of the trees barely 3 feet from her.

A walker. No, two walkers. Three. Five.

Beth jumped as a bolt flew past her, finding its way into the first walker’s head, and suddenly Daryl was right there, between her and the walkers. Her protector. She wished she had her knife at the ready, wished she could help him, but she had left it with her clothes. Daryl had dealt with a lot more walkers in the past, and five walkers wasn’t really a threat, but seeing them so close to Beth had scared him.

He smashed the next walker’s head in with his crossbow, grabbed the arrow from the first walker, and drove it into the third walker’s eye. The fourth and fifth he stabbed with his knife, making quick work of all of them before rounding on Beth.

“‘you dumb or somethin’ girl?” he asked, his voice louder than necessary, his tone harsh. She back away from him slightly. He stepped forward. “The hell do you decide to sing for, you wanna get killed? And why isn’t your knife with you”

He was angry. Angry at himself for being scared. Angry at her for scaring him. Angry that her life was so precious to him.

"I’m sorry," she said, "I didn’t think."

"No, you didn’t think," he said. Beth had only heard his voice like this once before, at that night had included a lot of moonshine and a lot of drunken revelations, "sorry ain’t good enough," he said, entering her personal space a little more. This time she didn’t back away.

"It was just a song, jack ass, besides I’m pretty sure you’re yelling louder than I was singing, so who’s the dumb one attractin’ walkers now?"

"If I gotta yell to get it through to your thick goddamn head that you could have just died, then I’ll fucking yell," his voice still loud and angry.

"Yeah, well how about next time you just let me then, clearly I’m such an annoying burden to you," she yelled back, "just let them get me and you can go back hunting in peace, just you and your goddamn crossbow, you won’t have to teach me to hunt out of some dumb sense of pity or guilt."

"Guilt?" he spat, "you think that’s why I bring you hunting with me?"

"I know that’s why you bring me hunting, you think I’m some child you need to protect and you feel guilty about the funeral home. Well guess what, Daryl, I ain’t a kid, and I ain’t-"

Beth’s final comment was interrupted by Daryl’s lips crashing aggressively against hers. She tensed at first, shock taking over her, then she relaxed, reciprocating he kiss, tangling her fingers in Daryl’s hair. She had imagined this moment many times, but she thought she knew it would never happen, Daryl felt obliged to keep her safe but he wasn’t interested in her. His hands rested on her bare waist, as he deepened the kiss, holding her tightly in his hands, wondering if he would ever be able to let her go.

She sighed into the kiss, allowing his tongue to run over her upper lip, before invading her mouth. He pulled her body into his while also pushing them both towards the cabin until her back hit the rough wall, pinning her body between the wall and him. She ground her hips into him, satisfied by the deep growl that Daryl let out as she did so.

She let out a quiet whimper as his lips parted from hers. The sound surprised Daryl, he hadn’t expected himself to kiss her, let alone for her to kiss him back. His lips found their way to her neck, sucking and biting their way down to her collarbone. She moaned as he licked his tongue over her skin, her hand reaching behind her for the clasp of her bra, ready for this to go further.

Daryl’s lips left her as suddenly as they had arrived. “No,” he said. One minute her body was closer to his than it had been to anyone else’s in a long time; next he was three steps away, fingers funning through his wet hair, rain dripping off both of them. “You’re 18” he said.

"I’m an adult," she replied, "I want this."

"You don’t know what you want," he replied. There was no way Beth actually wanted him, she was just excited by the moment. It was probably her first kiss since Zach died, of course she was eager, that didn’t mean it was right.

"I want this," she said again, "I want you, Daryl, trust me, I want you."

"We can’t," he said, his tone telling both of them that the conversation was over, though he wanted nothing more than to take her right there, against the cabin wall  in the pouring rain.

"Put your clothes back on," he said, turning away from her and disappearing back into the cabin. Daryl knew the only reason she had kissed him back was hormones. It made sense, a teenager in the apocalypse with relatively few guys to choose from, of course she was horny. They had become close after the prison, it was probably some weird form of Stockholm Syndrome from all the time they had been forced together, and he had come far too close to taking advantage of that. But she was too good for him. Guilt and disgust at himself began to bubble up from within him. Beth was pure, and good, and perfect. He had almost ruined that because he was a sick old man who enjoyed fantasizing about his hands tangling in her light blonde hair and his hands running their way up her soft, pale legs.

He didn’t turn to look at her as she walked into the cabin, deciding the best course of action was not acknowledging anything that had just happened, and hoping she would do the same.

"Go to sleep, I’ll stay on guard, we’ll head back at sunrise tomorrow," he said, walking out of the cabin and leaving her staring confusedly after him.

 


End file.
